Burke to unveil crackdown barring student families, visa hopping

Immigration Minister Tony Burke is preparing to announce a significant tightening of Australia's migration settings, with new measures expected to prevent international students from bringing family members into the country and to close loopholes that allow so-called "visa hopping" between temporary visa categories.

The changes come as the federal government faces mounting pressure over housing affordability, inflation and strained public infrastructure, with some blaming high migration intake for compounding those pressures. Others in the debate have pushed back, arguing migrants are not responsible for the underlying causes of the housing and cost-of-living crises.

Net overseas migration is currently running at roughly 300,000 people a year. The government has set a target of reducing that figure to 225,000 annually by 2028, and fresh official migration figures are due to be released on the same day as Burke's announcement, adding extra scrutiny to how effective the new measures will be.

The overhaul was originally due to be detailed in a National Press Club address more than a month ago, but that speech was cancelled at short notice. It has now been rescheduled, reportedly under the title "Who arrives, who stays, and who leaves" — a framing that signals the breadth of the changes being considered, from entry requirements through to visa cancellations and removals.

Some elements of the crackdown are already in effect. The government has slowed processing of working holiday-maker visas for travellers from certain countries, a move that is beginning to affect regional labour markets. Businesses in places such as Townsville have warned that reduced access to backpacker workers is making it difficult to fill rosters, particularly in hospitality and seasonal industries that rely heavily on temporary visa holders.

The reforms are unfolding against a broader backdrop of political tension in Canberra, with the government facing scrutiny on multiple fronts. Migration policy has become a key battleground, with the opposition pressing the government to explain how quickly the changes will bring migration numbers down and what impact they will have on the housing shortage and service delivery pressures that both sides agree need addressing.

With the policy detail still to be confirmed, attention will now turn to how the government plans to phase in the changes, what transitional arrangements will apply to international students and their families already in Australia, and how enforcement against visa hopping will work in practice.